Most people have experienced feeling drained after too little sleep or surprisingly sluggish after spending extra hours in bed. While occasional restless nights are a part of life, scientists are increasingly discovering that long-term sleep habits may reveal much more about overall health.
According to researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, whose findings were published in Nature, both very short and very long sleep durations are associated with faster biological aging, reports Science Daily.
The study analyzed health data from nearly 500,000 participants in the UK Biobank.
The sleep sweet spot
Rather than relying on a single measure of aging, the researchers used 23 biological aging clocks covering 17 different organ systems.
These tools estimate how quickly organs appear to age by analyzing biological markers, including proteins, blood measurements and medical imaging.
The analysis found the lowest levels of biological aging among people who reported sleeping between approximately 6.4 and 7.8 hours per day. Sleeping less than six hours or more than eight hours was associated with faster aging across multiple organs.
More than fatigue
The researchers also identified links between sleep duration and several health conditions. Short sleep was associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, anxiety and depression.
Both short and long sleep were linked to respiratory conditions, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as several digestive disorders.
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Importantly, the study does not show that sleep duration directly causes the body to age faster. Instead, researchers say sleep length may serve as an important indicator of a person's overall health.
Looking ahead
The findings suggest that healthy sleep is closely connected to the body's biological aging process rather than affecting only the brain. Researchers hope organ-specific aging clocks will help improve understanding of how lifestyle factors influence long-term health and disease risk.
Further studies will be needed to determine whether improving sleep habits can help slow biological aging over time.
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This article is made and published by Mie Hermansen, who may have used AI in the preparation.